This invention relates to a thermoluminescent material useful in the detection, counting or otherwise measuring of nuclear radiation.
Nuclear radiation is radiation that has its genesis within the nucleus of the atom. Examples of such radiation are radiation by X-rays, alpha particles, neutrons, protons, electrons and gamma rays.
It has been proposed to use diamond of low nitrogen content as a thermoluminescent material in the detection of nuclear radiation--European Patent Publication No. 0195678. Such diamond particles are available from natural sources or may be produced synthetically. Whilst diamond has been shown to be an excellent human tissue equivalent detector of ionising radiation cubic boron nitride with an effective atomic no of 6.8 is an even closer tissue equivalent material.
Cubic boron nitride (CBN) has also been described in the literature as having thermoluminescent properties. Reference in this regard may be had of the paper by A. Halperin and A. Katzir entitled "Electrical Conductivity, Absorption and Luminescence Measurements in Cubic Boron Nitride", Phys. Chem. Solids, 1975, Vol. 36, pp. 89-93.